Thanatos
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Not wanting to worry his wife or his son, Jonathan hides that he's suffering from the strain Jor-El has forced upon him to protect Clark. However, two strangers' arrivals in Smallville bring about the revelation as one of them sets her sights on Jonathan when he tries to help the other after an accident. This story takes place immediately after the episode, Crusade in season four.
1. Chapter 1

Thanatos

Chapter One

"Theresa, can you not take your head out from behind your cell phone for two seconds so that we can talk long enough to settle this once and for all?" a man asked coldly as he glimpsed over at his soon to be ex-wife, who was busy concentrating on the device in her hands as she was trying to send an email to her boss back in Metropolis, before turning back to the dark road before them as he continued driving toward Smallville. "I really want to get this over and done with."

"I have a deadline to make, Tom, and if I don't make it, I'm as good as fired, all thanks to you and that cold hearted SOB you hired as your divorce attorney," the woman responded, ignoring her husband's request. "Where exactly did you dig him up and why are we coming all the way out here, to some hick town called Smallville to meet with him?"

Tom breathed in deeply in order to try to remain calm, then finally let it out and answered, "Because, Smallville is where Greg just happens to be right now while he is out of the city for a few weeks to do a job. As for where I found him, he was recommended highly by Lionel Luthor."

Theresa finally dropped her phone into her lap, then stared out at the darkness to watch the lightning in the sky around them as she replied, "That explains a lot. I just don't understand why we couldn't have waited until he came back. Are you really in that much of a hurry to leave me for good?"

"Actually yes," the man responded cruelly. "I'm getting married next month and I really don't want our messy divorce getting in the way. As I recall, you cheated on me first. I look forward to you finally being out of my life."

"And you cheated on me several times over, even though I apologized," she answered angrily. "I made a mistake, but I did still love you. You might as well have killed me."

Tom was about to say something more when all of a sudden, a streak of lightning burst as it struck a tree right before them, splitting it in two as one of its larger branches crashed down on the road and caused the couple's car to spin out of control and roll several times down a slope into the rest of the trees surrounding them until the car finally came to a stop while remaining on its roof. After several minutes, Tom slowly and painfully pulled himself from out of the wreck and fell over onto his back when he was clear. Finally, he moved again and leaned down to look inside the car for his wife, only to find that she was no longer there. He quickly looked all around him after seeing a large section of the car's windshield was broken and found her body lying unmoving on the ground a few feet away.

Blood covered the woman and he could see several of her limbs were broken, some angled at a very awkward angle, but when he reached down to touch her neck to feel for a pulse, her eyes suddenly shot open as she grabbed his wrist tightly and he could barely make out her whimpers, pleading for him to help her. However, instead of helping her, Tom slowly reached out and took hold of a large rock with a strange, green shade to it lying nearby him, then without thought or remorse, he swiftly and cruelly began to beat her with it over and over until he was positive that Theresa was dead. Afterward, the man dug into the earth wildly until there was a large enough hole in the ground, shoved her body into it, then covered the hole back up with the loose dirt and packed it tight until the woman he had once loved was buried deep within.

When he was finished, Tom walked casually back up to the street and waited for another car to pass by in hope of getting a ride into town. His wait wasn't long when a red pickup truck soon rode toward him and stopped, as the man behind the wheel rolled down the window and called out, "Are you alright? Come on, get in. I can give you a ride to our town's hospital."

Tom accepted the man's offer to get inside his truck, but quickly replied, "Thank you for the lift, but if you just want to drop me off someplace where I can clean myself up at, that'll be just fine. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" the driver asked in confusion, seeing the man's bloodied clothes and disheveled look. "You look like you could be hurt. You've got a lot of blood…"

"Look, I said I'm fine, okay!" the stranger shouted angrily, but quickly calmed down again and looked over at the man sympathetically as he continued. "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm a bit stressed and I've got a headache, as I'm sure you can imagine. I've also got a couple of pretty good size gashes that are bleeding… Also, my car down there has been totaled."

The man quickly responded, "All the more reason for you to get yourself checked out. I suppose that if you'd prefer, I can take you back to my farm where my wife and I can take care of you instead. You can make a call to the police to report the accident, rest up for the night, and then take care of everything else in the morning. I'm Jonathan, Jonathan Kent."

The stranger to Smallville took the man's hand as he held it out to him and shook it, then answered coolly, "I'm Tom. And I'm grateful for your hospitality, Mr. Kent."

"You're welcome," Jonathan replied sincerely, then started driving again, periodically taking glances over at the man whom he couldn't help, but feel an uncomfortable vibe in. "Are you going to be in Smallville long, Tom?"

"Actually, I'm thinking about looking for a job here in town," he responded after he thought for a moment. "I'm an old friend of the Luthor's, both of whom have mentioned interesting things about this place. What do you think?"

Now feeling even more uncomfortable than before and wishing that he hadn't stopped, Johnathan scoffed as he answered, "Smallville is just as its name implies. It's small and quiet. You'll have to forgive my candor, it's just that I'm not exactly a fan of the Luther's, at least not of Lionel. I don't trust him. As for whatever he told you, I wouldn't take anything he told you to heart."

Tom smiled and replied, "I think I'd like to find out for myself if that's true. I like you, Kent. You're not afraid to speak your mind and I respect that. In the morning, I'll see about getting me a ride to Lex's home, to see if he can't find someplace for me in one of the companies he runs here."

Unseen by either Jonathan or the stranger as they had already driven away from the scene of the accident, lightning struck once again into the ground where a woman's body was just buried as the area suddenly discharged a bright, green glow for several seconds, then disappeared as quickly as it came. Dead silence filled the air until Theresa Callas broke through what had become her grave as she screamed, her bloodied face and mangled body shaking as she fought to breathe, though no breath actually entered in or out of her, nor did she feel any kind of pain. Her scream wasn't out of fear, but out of a fierce anger.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanatos

Chapter Two

Fifteen minutes later, Jonathan finally pulled into the long drive leading up to his farm where he had lived his whole life and came to a stop in front of the barn. Upon seeing his father's truck pull in, Clark ran down from his space up in the loft and exited the barn to greet him, which is when he saw that his father wasn't alone. A stranger stepped out from the passenger's side and it didn't take long for Clark to feel that something was off about him, just as Jonathan had, and that was before the teenager even saw the condition the man was in.

Clark spoke first asking, "Dad, who's this?"

Jonathan looked back at the man he had picked up on his way home, then turned around again to look at his son and answered, "Son, this is Tom. He was in an accident just as he was coming into town, so I offered him a lift and a place to stay for the night. Tom, this is my son, Clark. My wife must be in the kitchen. I believe she said she was going to be baking us apple pie for dessert tonight."

"Yeah, which the doctor said you shouldn't be eating any time soon," Clark responded with a smile, to which his father chuckled at, then together the three of them walked inside the farmhouse, finding Martha in the kitchen just as Jonathan predicted. "By the way, how was your appointment with your doctor?"

"We'll talk about that later," Jonathan replied quickly, using his eyes to point back toward their visitor in hope of getting his son to be quiet about their personal life while the stranger was around, then moved to stand in front of his wife and kissed her as he pulled her into his arms. "How are you doing tonight, sweetheart?"

Martha kissed him back, then answered, "I'm good, and who is this? I didn't realize we would be having company for dinner tonight."

Her husband cleared his throat, then Tom quickly reached out his hand to her to shake hers as he responded, "Forgive me, ma'am. I'm Tom Whitford. Your husband was kind enough to stop for me after I was in an accident not too far from here. I'm fine, but my car isn't."

"My gosh, I am so sorry, mostly for my rudeness," she replied as she quickly motioned for him to have a seat on their couch within the living room, then grabbed a towel, ran it under hot water, and finally she gently lay it over his forehead where the man had a gash over his eyebrow that was slowly trickling blood. "What happened?"

"W… I was driving here from Metropolis in hope of coming to speak with Lex Luthor about a job here in town when all of a sudden, a burst of lightning came from out of nowhere striking a large tree nearby, causing one of its branches to fall down in front of my car," Tom answered calmly, having caught himself from saying we by mistake. "I swerved to avoid being hit, but I wasn't fast enough. My car flipped a few times and I ended up upside down in a heap of metal several feet off the road."

Martha continued to take care of the man after Clark brought her their first aid kit they kept beneath their kitchen sink in case of an accident on their farm as she responded, "I am so sorry. You are very lucky you aren't hurt much worse, you could have been killed. You don't seem to be hurt too badly, but just the same, wouldn't you prefer us to bring you to Smallville Medical Center to be checked out just in case?"

Tom shook his head and replied, "Just as you said, I'm not bad off. I'll be fine after a good meal, a warm bath, and a good night's sleep. In the morning, I will have a cab bring me into town so that I can do the things I've come here for. I really do appreciate your generosity."

"It's no trouble at all," Jonathan finally spoke again as he motioned their guest toward the stairs, inviting him to go up to their bathroom so that he could get himself cleaned up, while dinner finished cooking. "Come on down when you get done."

"I will," the man stated and then disappeared up the stairs, leaving the Kents alone.

Clark turned back to his father as he said quietly, "Okay, is it just me or did something not feel right about him?"

Jonathan bowed his head as he answered, "It's not just you, son. Something is very wrong and I don't think it's that he's come here to speak with Lex or is friends with Lionel. I have a feeling there's more to his accident than just the accident."

"Should I go out and take a look around?" Clark asked as he looked between his parents, looking for confirmation. "I can be back in a few minutes?"

"No, I… maybe in the morning, but I don't want you to go out there tonight," Martha responded, not really sure why she was uncomfortable with her son leaving to go out to the accident scene just then. "Dinner's almost ready. Why don't you help me by setting the table?"

Their son nodded and smiled as he replied, "Sure, Mom. So, Dad, how did your appointment in Metropolis go today?"

Martha turned to her husband as she quickly asked, "Yes, what did your doctor say? How are you feeling?"

"I told you both, I'm just fine," Jonathan answered with confidence for the sake of his family, even though the truth was not exactly what he claimed. "I'm a bit worn down and I'm tired, but other than that… I don't think that going to see another doctor for a second opinion is really necessary."

"You're okay then?" Clark asked again, not really believing that tired was all his father was feeling after waking up from a three month coma because his birth father nearly choked the life out of him as punishment for trying to get in the Kryptonian's way of luring Clark back home to him, or wherever it was Clark had disappeared to through the cave walls. "Are you sure? Can I get you something?"

Jonathan smiled and pulled his son into a hug as he responded, "I promise you, I am alright, son. I'm alright."

Meanwhile…

A woman covered in blood and dirt slowly, almost drunkenly, walked into an alleyway where there were three other men and women standing near a fire inside a barrel, while others were lying down upon the street wearing nothing, but the rags upon their backs and maybe a blanket to keep them warm if they were lucky. It was clear that these people were homeless, which didn't seem to bother the newcomer in the slightest. The woman walked over to the fire and held her hands out in what appeared to the others was an attempt to try to warm herself, but something about her seemed off and frightened all, but one of the men standing with her away.

The man, with more than simple thoughts to help her on his mind, spoke up saying coolly, "You look like you could use some help. Can I do something for you?"

"Actually, I think that you can, but I don't believe it's what you're thinking," she replied almost seductively as she moved closer to the man and tapped her fingers up his chest up to his chin as she leaned in for a kiss, but stopped short of touching his lips. "I just got out of a bad relationship. The last thing I want is to jump into another one with the likes of you."

Without hesitation, she touched her hand against his chest and a bright green glow surrounded him as he started having difficulty breathing, then began to scream as the pain he felt as she continued her hold on him increased exceedingly. She simply stared at her hand as if in a trance, not seeming to be phased at all by the fact that she was killing the man before her, while the energy radiating from him and into her made her feel stronger and incredibly heightened, the power being a seduction that she couldn't resist, nor did she want to.

Anyone who was in the alley before this woman appeared were now gone, having taken off out of fear. After several minutes, the woman raised her hand from off the man's chest and his cold body collapsed to the ground, the vagrant now being lifeless as his eyes remained open, staring up at her in shock and horror. As if nothing happened, the woman who was once Theresa Callas, stepped over the body and kept on walking down the street without a care.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanatos

Chapter Three

The rest of the night went smoothly for the Kents, as the stranger in their home had simply finished up getting cleaned up, then ate dinner, and finally went up to bed after making a call to the sheriff's to report his accident, or so he thought his hosts believed. Martha had given Tom the number to make the call, but Tom had only pretended to talk to the lawmen while instead he spoke to his own answering machine from his home back in Metropolis, making up answers to the questions he believed the Sheriff would ask. What he didn't know was that the Kents' son had special abilities, one of which just happened to be super hearing. He had no clue that Clark had tuned into his one sided conversation from all the way downstairs.

"Clark, what has your father told you about eavesdropping on a person's conversation?" Martha asked quietly as she recognized the face her son always makes when doing so.

"I wouldn't do it if it wasn't for the bad feeling I'm getting off of him," Clark quickly replied as he looked awkwardly down at his mother standing in front of him. "Something's not right and the fact that he's actually answering no questions and explaining his accident to his own answering machine, only heightens my sense that he's trouble."

Jonathan walked over to them as he responded, "I felt something was off with him too, Martha, but we can't exactly kick him out of our home for no reason, at least not for our reasons. However, we can keep an eye on him. Clark, I hate to ask, but do you think you might be able to keep your eyes and ears open through the night, you know, just in case he does something…?"

Clark interrupted, "In case he does something that's not good? You don't have to ask. I was going to anyway."

"Good, and I think I'm going to go ahead and make the real call down to the Sheriff's," Jonathan continued as he walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone. "Let me know if he comes back down, would you?"

"I still think I should go down to the accident site tonight," Clark spoke again as his father started talking with Sheriff Adams. "You know, before the sheriff arrives with the rest of the department. If there's something Tom is hiding out there, I think we should learn about it first, as he is staying here in our house."

Martha looked at her son nervously and answered reluctantly, "Okay, I suppose you're right, but please be careful out there, Clark. I'm still afraid that we're going to lose you again, you know, after all that's happened lately."

Clark pulled his mother close and kissed her on the top of her head, then replied, "I'm not going anywhere again, Mom. At least not until I've graduated high school and get into college."

"Where's he going?" Jonathan asked after he got off the phone and saw, or at least felt, his son speed past him.

"Clark thought it best if he go take a look at the scene, before Sheriff Adams and the rest of her force get there," Martha responded in frustration as her husband came over to her and then together sat down on their couch. "I still don't like it, but I suppose Clark's right."

Jonathan took her hand in his and pulled her into his arms, then he said, "We should know if there's a threat this man has brought here with him that we or the law enforcement may not be able to see right away. Don't worry, Clark can take care of himself just fine."

Martha spoke again saying, "I can't help, but worry about both of my boys. I think I'm going to go up to bed. Try not to stay up too late, all right?"

"You've got it," he answered tiredly and leaned in to kiss her, watched his wife walk off to their room on the ground floor to go to bed, then continued sitting there as he waited for their son to return home.

Across town…

As soon as Clark arrived at the scene of the accident, he immediately began to look around, starting with looking inside Tom's car, using his x-ray vision for a more thorough search of the vehicle. When he was finished, he ended up finding nothing suspicious. In fact, the car was amazingly clean. If it wasn't for the Metropolis plates and the bumper stick on the car's back fender, Clark would have thought it was a rental car. Finally, he started to look around the entire site, including all around the tree that had caused the crash, and it wasn't long before he found a large hole in the ground a few feet away where a bunch of loose dirt had been filled into it, but that had been recently disturbed as if something had climbed out of it.

Clark slowly moved in for a closer look, but stopped short when he suddenly began to feel dizzy and weak, immediately recognizing the effects were coming from the meteor rocks which were no doubt beneath the dirt within the hole. He quickly backed away and instead used his vision again in order to see if there was anything still buried in the ground that might help him to find out what was there before. It was then that he discovered the shape of a woman's shoe.

Clark started moving toward the hole again despite the kryptonite in hope to grab the shoe before the effects could affect him too much, but it was then that he saw flashing lights not too far in the distance. He realized that it would probably be best if he got out of there before the sheriff or any of her men could see him snooping around where he didn't really belong. It would also be best if he left the shoe behind for them to find in case what he suspected about Smallville's newest visitor came to be true.

"Dad, I think we've got a problem," Clark stated as soon as he ran back home and found his father in the kitchen washing the night's dinner dishes. "Why are you still awake? You should be sleeping by now, it's getting late."

Jonathan stopped what he was doing as he looked back at his son and replied, "I was waiting up for you, now focus. What's the problem? Did you find something out there?"

Clark looked at him worryingly and then lowered his voice as he responded, "Right, I… we were both right about Tom. I mean, he was definitely in a car accident and the tree did crash down into the road in front of them like he said, but I don't think he was alone."

"What are you saying, son?" his father asked, already believing he knew what his answer would be.

"I'm saying that I don't think Tom was travelling here alone," Clark answered. "I found a freshly dug hole in the ground not too far away from the wreck with a woman's shoe still buried there, but there was no body buried with it. I couldn't get real close because there were meteor rocks in the earth as well, so I used my vision to see into it. It was clear that the hole was freshly dug and covered again, then disturbed. I think a woman was buried there tonight. And I don't think she was dead."

Jonathan looked up toward the upstairs room where their guest was supposedly asleep and sighed worryingly, then he looked back at his son as he replied, "So, Tom most likely killed, or tried to kill, whoever this woman was, then buried her without checking to make sure she was actually dead. I knew that there was too much blood on his clothes for it all to be his. I never should have stopped."

Clark put his hand on his father's shoulder for comfort as he responded, "You stopped because you were trying to help a man who you thought was in trouble. You didn't do anything wrong, Dad."

"I wish I had your confidence," Jonathan answered in frustration. "I'm going to need to call Nancy, to let her know that there's… Wait, I can't call the sheriff about the possibility that a woman buried alive might be roaming around like a zombie somewhere here in Smallville. She'll want to know how I know this and I can't tell her that I sent you to the crime scene to have your own look around. When she comes around, hopefully in the morning, we'll just have to let her in to speak with Tom and let her handle things from here, unless of course this situation becomes something worse."

"I'll take care of it if it does," Clark said confidently. "Now, go get some sleep. Everything's going to work out fine, you'll see."

Jonathan nodded and hugged his son, then walked off toward his bedroom, leaving Clark alone in the living room, knowing that he was there to make sure everything was all right while this possible killer was a guest in their home. Because he was exhausted, it didn't take long for Jonathan to fall asleep beside his wife, nor did it take long for his night terrors to start up again, nightmares that had started immediately after bringing Clark home when Jor-El had infused his body with the same abilities as his son and had only grown worse since the same being nearly killed him down in the caves. As soon as he was startled awake for the first time that night, Jonathan raised himself from their bed and took a seat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room like he eventually moved to every other night in hope of not waking his wife too, once again keeping his dreams and fears to himself, not wanting to worry those he loved even though he knew deep down that they would both find out the truth eventually.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanatos

Chapter Four

The next afternoon…

After doing the morning chores on their farm like usual, Clark took his father's truck into town to pick a few things up, but his main reason for doing so was to see if he could find out where their guest from the night before had gone to, interested to know if he was actually going to visit with Lex or not. He knew he couldn't just go to his friend and ask him straight out if a complete stranger had come to see him about a job, even though he was tempted to. So Clark settled for just looking around for himself.

When he walked into the Talon, he found that his mom was sitting across from Lois at one of the tables, both having coffee and talking, but as soon as they noticed him, Martha quickly called out, "Clark? Hi! What are you doing here?"

Clark took a seat with them and looked at Lois a little uncomfortably, as he still wasn't really sure what to think about the woman who had just arrived in Smallville to investigate her cousin's and his best friend's death, then turned to his mom as he responded, "Hi, Mom. I uh… just wanted to see if there was anything I could pick up for you while I was here in town, before I headed back home."

"Hey Smallville, you mean, you're not here to find out about where your strange visitor might have gone?" Lois asked as Clark looked at her quizzically, obviously wanting to know how she knew about that. "Reporter, hello? I can't help that I'm nosey. I was born this way. Your mom mentioned he left early this morning and took a cab here into town. I heard that there was some kind of accident last night from one of the deputies down at the police station and they mentioned something about the owner of the car having been picked up last night by Mr. Kent just after his accident happened. Apparently they're investigating the accident like it might be something more."

"What do you mean that it might be something more?" Clark asked nervously, taking another quick glance at his mother who looked at him as well, seeing that she was feeling the same way.

Lois quickly replied, "I mean, they found something suspicious at the crash site. I wasn't exactly told any of this, seeing as I was kind of eavesdropping like any good reporter does, so I don't know anything more. It's a pity that that stupid deputy didn't actually mention what that suspicious thing this was to whoever that woman was he was speaking to, the sheriff I think. There was also another woman sitting there waiting to speak with the sheriff. She seemed pretty interested in their conversation too, but before they finished, she disappeared. Something was definitely a little off with her. I think I'm going to go order another coffee. Can I get either of you anything; Mrs. Kent, Smallville?"

Martha quickly shook her head and answered, "No, thank you, Lois."

"Yeah, no thanks," Clark added as the reporter shrugged, then got up and walked away, leaving Clark and Martha alone. "Did you talk with Dad this morning about what I found last night?"

"Yes, and it makes me even more nervous that we might have had a killer staying with us for the night; that we sat down with him for dinner," she responded quietly so that only her son could hear her, to avoid anyone else overhearing their conversation.

Clark took her hands as he replied, "Try not to worry so much, Mom. He's left now. I actually came here to try to find him, but I don't want to just go and ask Lex if Tom's come to meet with him. I'd only make Lex curious as to why I would even care."

Martha nodded, looked toward Lois who was chatting with one of the Talon's other employees, then Clark asked, "So, what do you really think of her? I mean, she's nice, in a snarky sort of way, but… Do you really think she's good for this town? She's really curious and she'll probably get herself into a whole lot of trouble, especially if she gets into all of the weird things that happen here. You know… with all those infected by the meteor rocks?"

"You know what I think, I think that she truly loves Chloe and cares about the truth of how she died, as Chloe would want," Martha answered kindly. "I like Lois. I've got a good feeling about her coming here."

"Well then, she must be okay," Clark responded as he smiled at her and then stood again as he was about to go off to continue his search until his mom quickly grabbed his hand to stop him as she suddenly looked worried. "Mom, what's wrong?"

After he took a seat again and took her hands in his, she finally replied, "I'm not really sure, it's just that… I'm starting to get really worried about your father. I mean, he claims he's fine and the doctors all say he's doing alright for now, but early this morning, I woke up and I found him asleep in the rocking chair in our room, but he looked troubled, like he was in between having some kind of bad dream that's never ending. I've seen the look on him before, but never so…"

Clark looked away momentarily, feeling the guilt again over all the pain he's put his parents both through, especially his father, over the last year, then turned back to her and continued for her, "Never so bad? I'm sure everything's going to be all right, Mom. Don't worry so much. I'm sure that he'll talk to you, to us, when he's ready. Is it okay if I go? I really feel like I should see if I can't find out anything about Tom and whoever this mystery woman really are. It's possible that if she's still alive, then she could have actually been infected by the kryptonite, rather than simply had just been alive, if Tom actually did bury her."

"This could mean a lot of trouble," Martha quickly answered. "Go, go! We can talk about your dad later."

"Okay," he stated as he smiled at her, then sped off again just before Lois came back over and sat down with Martha once again.

She asked in confusion, "Where'd your son go? He was just here two seconds ago."

Martha responded, "Uh… he ran out of here because he realized he forgot to pick up something for his dad that he promised him he would get before a friend of ours leaves to go camping this weekend. Clark's always been a fast runner."

"Of course he is," Lois replied, then stood again to leave herself. "I think I'm going to head out as well. I have a few things I need to do."

"Good luck!" Martha called out as the younger woman walked away and left the coffee shop.

Meanwhile…

Tom got out of a cab that stopped in front of the Luthor Mansion, then waited a few steps away from the vehicle as it drove off for several minutes before finally walking up to the door and ringing the bell. Some guy in a suit answered and let him in, then told the stranger to wait in the foyer for his boss to come out to greet him. It took more time than he would have liked, but finally Lex came out and shook his hand, then motioned for his old friend to follow him inside.

As he did so, Lex spoke up saying, "It's good to see you again, Tom, but I have to say I'm surprised you came to see me, rather than my old man. After all, you were the best man and his and my mother's wedding."

Tom smiled and answered, "Yes, well… seeing as Lionel lives and works in Metropolis and I'm looking to get out of there, I figured that you'd be the man I need to see. I was hoping that you might have a…"

"If you were going to ask me for a job, you can save it," Lex interrupted coolly. "I can see that you're nervous and it's not because a man like you, who is almost as rich as me and my father, is looking for a job for the first time in his life. What is this really about? You know you can talk to me, Tom, and that I won't go running off to speak with my dad or the reporters, or whoever it is that you might be afraid of."

"I think I'm in a bit of trouble, Lex," the man finally responded worryingly. "Although it isn't for the reasons that you might suspect. I mean, I don't need any money or anything like that and you're right, I don't need a job. I just need to get out of the city and I was hoping that you can help me to find a place where I can lay low and… out from under anyone's radar."

Lex looked at him questioningly, then replied, "I take it that Theresa is no longer in the picture then? Last I heard, you were going through some marital issues, possibly getting ready to file for divorce. Did that get resolved already, or does this disappearance of yours have something to do with the possibility that this is something much worse than you losing everything you have?"

Tom looked at him directly and answered calmly, "You always were smarter than I gave you credit for. Can we talk?"


	5. Chapter 5

Thanatos

Chapter Five

At the Kent Farm…

While his wife and soon his son had gone off into town, Jonathan remained home to continue working on the numerous projects that never seemed to end. Clark had offered to stay with him to help, but his father thought it best that he go do what he knew his son had to do. It wasn't long after Clark had left that Jonathan was working on their broken down tractor, the one piece of equipment around the farm that was always breaking down as it was most needed, when a knock on their barn door behind his workspace interrupted his progress as he turned to find Sheriff Adams standing there.

"Good day, Mr. Kent," the sheriff said as she walked over to stand before him. "I see your tractor is on the fritz again. That's a real shame."

"Nancy," he stated calmly as he reached out to shake her hand. "I take it that you're not exactly here for a social call. What can I do for you today?"

She grinned as she answered, "You're really not one to beat around the bush, are you? No, as you probably suspect, I'm here to get your feel for your guest you reported the accident for. Why exactly did you do so, and not do it himself?"

Jonathan replied, "I believe I explained that to you last night, sheriff. Tom, whoever he is, pretended to make a call to you and after I overheard part of what I realized was his one-sided conversation, I knew that it was important that I make the report myself, seeing as I'm the one who picked him up immediately after his accident."

"You suspected something was off with him from the start, didn't you?" Nancy asked as she looked at him with surprise.

"That's right," he responded as he turned to put down the tools in his hands, then turned back to the sheriff. "Now, exactly what did you find out there at the accident site that brings you here? I answered all of your questions already and Tom is no longer here."

Nancy started to walk out as Jonathan followed after her while she answered, "As I said, Mr. Kent, I wanted to get a feel for what you thought about this stranger. You're a hard worker and honest man and if you think that there's something not right about him, well… let's just say that I've learned to trust your gut."

Not knowing really what to say to that, he simply replied, "Thank you, I think. Did you find anything out there?"

"I'm afraid I'm not really at liberty to say, but I can tell you that your instinct about him is turning out to be correct," she responded as she opened her car door and got in. "Do you happen to know where Tom might have gone?"

"He mentioned something about going to see Lex Luthor about a job and it's possible that that's where he may have gone, but I seriously doubt it's for asking for a job," Jonathan answered coolly. "Let me know if there's anything more you need."

Nancy smiled and simply nodded, then drove off as Jonathan stared after her for a minute until he finally walked back into the barn in order to get back to work, but stopped again after a few minutes when he felt someone watching him once again from the entryway of their barn and when he turned around, he saw a woman he had never seen before standing there, staring at him strangely as if she was trying to read his mind. Immediately, Jonathan knew something was very wrong.

He slowly moved toward her with caution as he called out, "Ma'am, can I help you?"

She didn't move hardly at all except for a tilt to her head as she continued staring at the man before her, then finally replied calmly, "You must be the man who picked up my husband last night after he crashed our car. I was hoping you could help me find him."

"I'm afraid I don't know," he responded honestly. "If you would like, I can take you down to the police station where you can speak with someone who can help you. I just need to make a call to my son to see if he can't drive back here with my truck, so that I can…"

"I would like to see Tom," she interrupted, as if she wasn't understanding what he was saying, though the strange look in her eyes seemed to disappear and began to look at him yearningly while she slowly moved closer to him. "You helped him. Did you feel sympathy for him? Did he tell you that he tried to kill me?"

Jonathan slowly backed away from her as he recognized the signs and knew she must have been infected by kryptonite during the accident or even afterward when Tom had buried her, which explained how she was still alive, and he also knew that he was in trouble, but he still wanted to help her, if only to try to keep her from hurting anyone, including himself, so he tried to sympathize with her by saying, "Please, let me help you. If you would like to see your husband, I can take you to him."

It was then that the woman threw her arms out, hands outward, as Jonathan was suddenly tossed through the air, causing him to crash against one of the posts in the middle of the barn, then down to ground, but before he could regain his breath, she was upon him as she lifted him like he weighed nothing at all as she spoke again saying coldly, "I don't need you to take me to him. I'll learn everything I need from you when I use my newfound gift. It's a pity you have to die. You are quite handsome."


	6. Chapter 6

Thanatos

Chapter Six

As soon as she spoke, she let go of Jonathan with one hand, then raised it to his chest as her hand began to glow like before and began to drain his life from his body, eliciting a cry of pain from his lips, which only continued to grow the longer she continued to hold him in her grasp. However, after a few moments she swiftly released him all together, allowing his body to collapse down to the floor unconscious, then backed away from him slowly as she stared at the man on the ground before her with a different kind of yearning than she had felt toward the others she had killed since these newfound powers had been granted to her. Theresa knelt down over him and continued stare at his slackened features as she gently reached out about to touch his face, her hand still radiating green, when all of a sudden she was interrupted as she looked up in surprise.

A younger man ran into the barn with surprising speed and when he saw the scene before him he cried out, "Dad! No, leave him alone!"

Theresa backed away fearfully as Clark ran over to his father and began to check him over as he pulled him into his arms and when he raised his head to look toward the woman, he found that she was already gone. Clark looked all around, but gave up and went back to trying to rouse his father as gently as he could until he finally began to come around, though very weak and still in pain from whatever the strange woman had done to him.

Clark spoke again worryingly asking, "Dad, what happened? Are you alright?"

"I… I'm not… aagh!" Jonathan fought to get out until his pain flared again for a brief second. "Clark, I'm fi… fine."

"No you're not," his son replied angrily as he struggled to lift himself off the ground with Clark's help. "If I hadn't have come home when I did… Dad, she could have killed you. Mom and I would have thought you had another heart attack. Was that Tom's wife? What did she want with you?"

His father was finally all the way back on his feet and together they slowly made their way back into their house, as Jonathan answered calmly, "Yeah, that was her. She's been effected somehow by the meteor rocks. She said that she was looking for her husband and wanting me to help her. What I don't understand is how did she know to come here to look for me? She knew I helped him after the accident, asked me if he told me that he had killed her or if I had felt sympathy for him. It was strange, the way that she looked at me just before she threw me through the air and grabbed ahold of me like I was a ragdoll."

Clark helped him sit down on their couch and sat beside him and then responded sadly, "I think I might know how she knew to come looking for you. When I was in town I ran into Lois and Mom at the Talon. Lois was talking about how she had overheard one of the deputies speaking with Sheriff Adams about the accident site, how they definitely suspect it was something more after they had found something suspicious, though Lois didn't actually hear them say what it was, but it must have been the shoe that I saw. She said that she heard them mention that you had been the one to pick him up and take care of him after the accident. While Lois was there, she said that she had seen a strange woman also listening intently to their conversation. It had to have been Tom's wife. That must be how she knew to come here to see you. Dad, do you have any idea what she was trying to do to you?"

"I don't know, son," Jonathan replied as he placed his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes, still feeling pain from whatever it was she had done. "I've only ever felt that kind of agony back from when Jor-El… Never mind. The point is, I thought she was going to kill me, until she suddenly stopped and released me just before I fell unconscious. But the worst thing was, I could feel her inside my mind, reading my thoughts. God only knows what she saw… what she learned, especially about you."

"Don't worry about me, Dad," Clark quickly answered with assurance. "I can take care of myself."

Jonathan finally looked over at him as he placed his hand down firmly on his son's shoulder, then smiled and responded, "I know you can. I can't help, but worry. By the way, why did you come home? I thought you were in town trying to find our mystery couple?"

Clark stood and then replied, "I was, but I was on my way to Lex's in order to look around without getting caught by him, until I felt a strange sense that something was wrong here at home. I just felt like I needed to get back here right away. It's a good thing that I did. If I hadn't have listened to my instinct…"

"If you hadn't have listened to your instinct, then who knows what would have happened," his father interrupted before he could finish that train of thought. "As I said, this woman stopped herself from killing me like she planned on doing. I don't know why, but she did. At least now you know what this woman looks like. You should go and see if you can't find her. I'll be alright, Clark."

"That might be a little difficult," Clark answered nervously. "I think she has speed like me too, or I might have just been so focused on you that I didn't realize how long it really was before I looked up to see if she was still standing there. She seemed to have disappeared so quickly. However the kryptonite infected her, her powers are strong and she'll only continue to grow stronger the longer she's allowed to do whatever it is she's doing."

It was then that suddenly Jonathan remembered something and looked up at his son as he said, "It was strange, I could feel her inside my mind, but as her connection to me grew, I could see one word from her mind too; a word that I've never heard of or seen before. It may not even be from around here."

Clark quickly asked, "What was it?"

"Thanatos," he responded resolutely.

Back again at Lex's mansion …

Tom was had finished speaking with Lex about the business he had come to see the younger man about and together the two of them started talking of days past over a glass of Napoleonic brandy Lex had shipped in from France some time ago. Their conversation lasted into the evening and the Luthor's guest stood as he was about to leave after having been told of a safe house for him to drive to, when all of a sudden, all of the lights went out throughout the castle, all except for the light shining through the room from the fire in the fireplace.

"Lex, what's going on?" Tom asked as they both stood and looked around the room apprehensively. "Did you forget to pay the electric bill for this place or something?"

Lex replied coolly, "Do I look like the kind of guy who forgets to pay my bills? There's no storm outside. I have no idea what's…"

It was then that someone spoke from the entryway of Lex's study saying, "There's no power outage. I simply shorted out your electricity throughout this beautiful home of yours, Mr. Luthor."

"Theresa, is that… is that you?" Tom asked fearfully. "But how…?"

"How is she here now?" she asked coldly. "You mean, how is she here after you killed her? It's complicated. I don't exactly know myself, but the important thing is, I am here and I am not the woman you brutally murdered by bashing her head over and over again with a rock and then buried in the earth last night."

Lex slowly moved forward, stepped between the woman and her husband, then spoke as he stated calmly, "Theresa, I'm Lex Luthor. Do you remember me? Or my father, Lionel, do you remember him?"

The woman suddenly tossed Lex across the room as she had done to the other man on the Kent Farm, knocking him back into the far wall as he was knocked out cold, then continued moving toward Tom as she answered, "I am not Theresa anymore. I am Thana and I am here to avenge what you did to your wife."

"My ex-wife, soon to be ex-wife, I mean," Tom responded as he tried to run away from her, only to be pulled back from behind as she grabbed a hold of him, turned him around to face her, and shoved him hard against the wall behind him too, holding him high above her with one hand. "Please, Theresa! Please, don't kill me! I beg of you!"

"Did you not hear her beg for you to help her?" Thana shouted again, with even more anger in her voice. "Did she not beg you to stop before you killed her? You did not show her mercy and so I shall not grant you mercy, you sniveling coward!"

Thana then laid her hand upon his chest, a bright green glow completely surrounding them both as she released her power as it coursed heavily through the man that was Theresa's husband, causing Tom to scream out in pain for several minutes as she slowly killed him, creating as much agony for him as she could until his life force was finally drained completely from his body. Lex awoke just in time to see his family's old friend suffer and die, then watched as the woman carelessly dropped his lifeless body to the floor and walk out of the room, having forgotten that Lex was even there.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanatos

Chapter Seven

Clark stayed at home on their farm with his father until Martha came home from work later that evening, just to make sure that his dad was really alright after he was attacked. Clark wanted to call his mother home sooner, but Jonathan didn't want to take her away from her job, but mostly he didn't want to worry her so long as he was fine.

However, when she did come home, along with Lois, who was staying with them until she could find her own place, Clark explained to his mom what had happened and she sat down beside her husband on the couch to coddle him as she stated firmly, "You should have called me, Jonathan. After everything you've been through, do you really think that I wouldn't leave early to be here with you?"

Jonathan looked at her softly as he responded, "Of course I know you would, Martha, but I told you, as I've told Clark, I'm perfectly fine. A little tired maybe, but fine."

"Does this sort of thing really happen here like Chloe explained to me in her letters and emails, or the in the stories that she writes?" Lois asked excitedly. "I have to say, I'm not really sure what I believed, but… Wow! I mean, of course I'm sorry you were hurt, Mr. Kent. It's just that this is all new to me and it's fantastic; sort of. What exactly did what she did to you feel like, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Lois, maybe now this isn't such a good time," Martha answered for Johnathan. "Would you mind if we could talk, alone?"

Lois raised her hands as she replied, "Of course! My bad, I knew it was too soon. I'll be upstairs in my room, actually… in Clark's room, if you need me."

As she left, Clark watched her walk upstairs, then looked back at his parents and said, "I realize it wasn't actually the best idea for me to invite her to stay here with us so long as she's in town to investigate Chloe's death, or disappearance rather. I promised her I would help her, but with what's going on, especially now that Tom's wife has attacked Dad…"

"Clark, I don't want you to worry so much about me as I would prefer that you focus on finding this woman and her husband, so long as you're careful, son," Jonathan finally spoke again. "I don't know exactly what kind of power she has, especially any that might affect you. I am worried about what or who this Thanatos might be."

"Thanatos?" Martha responded in confusion. "What's that?"

Clark answered, "It's the one word Dad was able to pull from Tom's wife's mind when she attacked him. I doubt she intended to let you see that, Dad. What if she comes back while I'm out trying to find her? What if she hurts either of you again, or worse?"

His father put his hand gently on his shoulder as he replied, "I told you, your mother and I will be fine. Besides, you seem to have developed some kind of sixth sense when it comes to the people you love being in danger. You saved me once from this woman, Clark. I'm sure that if she comes back, you'll be able to do so again."

"Come on, Smallville!" Lois suddenly called out as she came running back down the stairs again with her phone in her hands. "You and I are heading on over to Lex Luthor's mansion. According to my source…"

"You've been in Smallville for how long and you've already got a source?" Clark interrupted.

The reporter glared at him as she continued, "Very funny and yes, I already have a source; two in fact. Anyway, according to one of my sources, the sheriff and a few of her deputies arrived at the Luthors' mansion because somebody died there earlier tonight. The strange thing is, they say it was your mysterious stranger here in town. His cause of death is unknown at this point, but dollars to doughnuts… I'm betting this woman who attacked you, Mr. Kent, got the revenge she was looking for. It'd be a funny coincidence if his death was anything else. This will be one hell of a story."

Clark looked at the woman and quickly responded, "I'll meet you at the car."

"Fine, but hurry!" she called out as she walked out of the house.

"Lois is right, this can't be a coincidence," Clark said again nervously as he turned back to his parents.

Jonathan nodded in frustration as he answered, "She did say that she would get all she needed from my mind before she attacked me and she did. I could feel her digging around, looking for answers. She must have learned that we thought Tom might have gone to speak with Lex."

Martha added, "It would explain how she knew where to find him."

"I'm going to go find out for sure," Clark replied as he headed to the door. "I'll be back soon."

"It looks like it's my fault he was killed," Jonathan said again after their son left.

Martha raised her hands to her husband's face and turned him around to face her as she stated sadly, "Jonathan, no. That woman attacked you and forced it from your mind. You can't blame yourself for that, for something you have no control over. You're always the first to assure Clark that he's not to blame for all of the things that go wrong here in Smallville. The same goes for you too. Besides, though I don't condone what this woman did to her husband, Tom was an evil man. He didn't deserve to die, but it looks like he received the consequences of his actions. Honestly, why are you two boys always so quick to blame yourselves for everything around here?"

Jonathan smiled, then leaned down to kiss his wife, and spoke up saying, "I don't know, but I do know that I love you, Martha. And I'll keep on reminding you and Clark of that every day."


	8. Chapter 8

Thanatos

Chapter Eight

When Lois and Clark arrived at the Luthor mansion, they found that the sheriff and her men were still there, but appeared to be getting ready to leave. As Lex sees his friend and someone new to town with him, he quickly finishes speaking with the sheriff, then walks over to Clark and asks calmly, "Clark, it's getting a little late for you, isn't it? I would have thought you'd be at home right now with your father, you know, after him waking up from a three month coma and all. How is he doing?"

Clark shrugged as he answered, "He's about as well as can be expected. Thanks. It's good to see you made it back from your own little misadventure."

Lois was about to say something, but Clark quickly cut in again before the reporter could stick her nose in as he continued, "I just wanted to come by to see that you're alright as well and to introduce you to Chloe's cousin from Metropolis, Lois Lane, although I see that maybe I came by at a bad time. What's going on?"

"An old friend of my family came into town tonight to see how me and my father have been getting along and unfortunately, he had a heart attack," Lex responded as he looked over at the reporter to shake her hand and introduce himself. "It's good to meet you, Miss. Lane; Lex Luthor. And I'm sorry for your loss."

"Yeah, thanks," she replied skeptically. "A heart attack, that's it?"

Lex looked at the woman in confusion, turned to look at his friend, then back a Lois and asked, "Excuse me?"

Clark stopped Lois from talking again as he answered, "What Lois means is, your friend was in an accident last night, when he arrived here in Smallville. My dad was on his way back from Metropolis when he drove by where your friend went off the road and he picked him up. He stayed with us for the night and mentioned that he was in town to see you. My dad offered to take him to the hospital to be checked out. He refused, but maybe if he had…"

"Are you kidding me right now?" Lois asked in frustration as she glared at the farm boy she was quickly getting to know, then turned back to Lex. "Look, it's strange that this friend of yours would nearly die in a car accident one night and then die of a heart attack the next."

"Look Lois, it's possible that Tom may have died later due to complications from the accident," Clark responded as he glared at her, hoping that she would take the hint and stop her inquisition.

She didn't at first as she retorted, "But what about…? Oh, I… Look, I'm sorry too, Mr. Luthor. I mean about your friend."

Lex nodded and replied, "Thank you. It was good to meet you, Miss. Lane. I hope next time we see each other, the circumstances are a little better."

"Good night," Lois answered and then turned and walked back to the pickup truck she and Clark drove there in and waited inside for Clark to join her.

"You'll have to forgive Lois," Clark spoke again as he looked back at his friend. "She's a little bit too suspicious and extremely curious about, well about everything. She's a reporter."

Lex responded, "That explains a lot. She blames my father, and therefore me, for Chloe's death, doesn't she? I don't blame her."

Clark thought about mentioning that he and Lois knew Chloe's grave was empty and that they suspected she might actually still be alive, but thought better about it and finally he simply replied, "She just needs some time. Eventually she'll come to realize where the real blame lies."

"Yeah, in my father," the older man stated a bit more curtly than he meant.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean that like it sounded," Clark quickly apologized.

Lex patted his shoulder and answered, "Don't sweat it. Get back home and be with your parents. I'm sure after your long excursion to wherever it is you went, that they want to spend as much time with you as possible. And tell your mom and dad that if they need anything, I want to help."

Clark smiled as he replied, "Thanks, Lex. Good luck with everything."

"So, what was that about?" Lois asked coldly as Clark got back into the truck, then started driving. "I thought you were just as curious as I am about what happened to this guy?"

"I am, but it's obvious Lex is hiding something and coming right out with accusations against a man like Lex or Lionel, is a bad idea," he answered in frustration. "Believe me, I know, my family knows, that better than anyone. We've had a lot of problems over the years because of Lionel Luthor and though Lex is my friend, I realize that he's done some things are aren't good too. We can talk to him about Chloe later and as for Tom, I'm going to have to find out the truth another way."

Lois looked at him skeptically as she spoke again saying, "You? Don't you mean we, farm boy? We're going to find out the truth about this together."

Clark pulled over and scoffed as he shook his head, then responded, "Look, if it's all the same to you, Lois, a killer's zombie wife didn't come and attack your father and nearly kill him. He's been through a lot in the last year and it's mostly been because of me. If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to find the truth myself. Besides, you don't really know what the wild things Chloe told you about are like. It can be dangerous here in Smallville."

"I don't scare easy," Lois replied angrily. "And no offense pal, but you're not the only one who's worried about someone here. You said it yourself, there's a possibility that Chloe could still be alive. If that's true, then she's in real trouble. I will find out the truth, but in the meantime, if you'll let me, I'd like to help you find out the truth about Tom and his zombie wife. Not for you, but for your mom and dad. They're good people and they are allowing me to stay with you rent free for as long as I need. It's the least I can do."

"Thank you, Lois," Clark said sincerely as he looked at the woman sitting beside him in a new light. "I really do appreciate that. And don't worry, we'll find Chloe too. I have a strong intuition that she's going to be alright."


	9. Chapter 9

Thanatos

Chapter Nine

Two friends were driving along the farmland roads after leaving one of Smallville's few saloons in town, having had a few drinks, but before they arrived at their destination, the driver suddenly swerved causing their truck to end up in a ditch off to the side of the road. Neither he nor the passenger were knocked unconscious, but one of the men reached up to his head after hitting hard against the steering wheel and pulled it away again to reveal blood on his hand, while his friend rubbed his hand along his chest as he felt sore from being forced into the seat belt that tightened against his body upon the force of the impact.

"What the hell did you do that for, dude?" the man in the passenger's seat asked in confusion. "God damn it, this truck is brand new."

"There was a woman out there," the driver replied oddly as he struggled to look around him as far as he could turn his head while he struggled to get free of his seat belt. "She came from out of nowhere. She was… beautiful."

His friend finally managed to get out of the truck and stood beside the vehicle as looked at the man also working to get out as he responded intoxicatingly, "I think you're drunker than you realized. Actually, I think we both are because I think I see her too. Is she…?"

The woman stepped off of the road and slowly walked toward the two men in an invigorating manner and when she was only a few feet from them, she said alluringly, "I'm sorry I frightened you. I didn't mean to cause you to go off the road. Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm… we're both fine," one of them answered as his friend moved to stand beside him as they continued staring at the beautiful woman before them. "Are you okay, Miss? Would you like a ride someplace? Maybe back to my place?"

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" his friend asked as he slapped his shoulder angrily. "That's no way to treat a lady!"

She seductively moved close to the man who tried to object on her behalf as she leaned in close looking as she was about to kiss him and replied coyly, "I don't mind. In fact, I would love to, but first I need you both to do something for me."

She finally pulled him into a long kiss as a surge of power burst through him that made him want more from the moment that she released her hold on him and moved over to his friend, pulling him into a deep kiss as well as she released the same power to draw him in as well. When she finished, both men were simply staring at her as if in a trance, unable to pull away from her. The woman moved to the car and was about to attempt to climb into the truck as both men swiftly stepped forward to help her up, until she sat on the edge of the seat with her feet dangling over its side.

She spoke again as she asked, "So, who are you boys?"

"I'm Kyle," the driver quickly responded as he moved closer to her again in hope of earning another kiss from the beautiful woman sitting over them.

"And I'm Tom, Tom King," the passenger added as he too tried to move closer to her in hope of more. "Please, tell me who…"

She cut him off as she interrupted, "Theresa just got out of a relationship with a different Tom. It didn't end well for her, or for him, but it is partly because of them that I am alive, so I am grateful. You both must call me Thana. Tell me, do you find me attractive?"

Tom shoved his friend to move in closer until he was standing directly beneath the seductress as he answered yearningly, "You know that I do! How can I prove my love for you, Thana?"

"I'll do anything you ask," Kyle swiftly stated as he tried to pull his friend back so that he could step in. "Tell me what you want from me and I'll do it."

"Don't worry, I have a special task for you both," Thana replied cruelly, then leaned down to kiss them both again, allowing both men to pull her down to them as she continued to kiss them with more passion as she infused the men with temporary power so that they could do her bidding until she would no longer have an use for them.

When she was finished, the power hungry woman spoke again asking, "Now, do you both know what I want you to do?"

Kyle suddenly reached out to put his hands beneath his truck as with an entirely heightened strength he pulled it from the ditch so that it was once again on the road, then he turned back to the woman he now saw as a goddess and responded, "We saw what it is that you will of us. I am happy to do whatever you ask of me."

"Can I not be what you need instead, my lady?" Tom asked longingly. "I beg of you!"

"I showed you what I want and you will do it without questioning my choice!" Thana answered angrily. "Now go, or you will die as painfully as the rest of my victims!"

As Thana demanded, the two men now fully under her control turned away and drove off, leaving the power hungry woman once again alone upon the road. She smiled as she watched them drive until they were out of sight, then she continued walking toward town without feeling weary of the threatening weather looming in the skies above her. In fact, she longed for the thunder and the lightening as it was one half of the source of her newfound powers sent down to her from the one whom she will soon be reunited with.


	10. Chapter 10

Thanatos

Chapter Ten

After they left the Luthor estate, Clark started driving to the high school where he and his friends attended without thinking to discuss his decision to do so and when the woman sitting in his father's pickup realized where they were going, she spoke up asking, "Um… where are we going? Your preppy high school is closed."

Clark looked at her coolly, then responded, "I know that, but right now we need to try to figure out what Thanatos is."

"Who or what the heck is Thanatos?" Lois asked in confusion as she stared at her new friend as he parked, then got out and started walking toward one of the side doors, the reporter following close behind. "And where the heck are you going now? Do you happen to have a key?"

"I know about a door that the lock is… well it's a bit loose," Clark replied as he used his strength to break in, though carefully enough so that the reporter standing behind him wouldn't be able to see him break it with his bare hands. "I know a trick to get in. And I forgot you weren't actually in the room then when my dad mentioned Thanatos, much like I wish I knew you were in the room back when I explained to my mom about his attack."

Seeing his look of disdain as he looked back at her, she quickly answered, "I'm sorry, okay? What is Thanatos now?"

He responded, "I don't know. That's why we're here, to do research."

"Okay, but you do realize that we're going to get busted for being here after hours, right?" Lois asked as she sat down beside him as Clark took a seat in front of his friend's computer to begin looking for anything on the name.

"Chloe and I come here all the time to do research," he replied as he began to type.

Lois said again, "Yes, but Chloe was the star reporter here and has the permission to be here after hours; you don't."

Clark threw his hands up in frustration, then continued to type as he stared at the screen coldly and asked angrily, "You just can't help yourself, can you? Enough with the contempt and all your questions about my choices here tonight. Look, when she hurt my father, he saw this name or word inside his mind when she searched through his. Finding out what it means may be the key to figuring out what Tom's wife really wants more than just killing her husband. I don't want to risk her coming back to hurt my dad… again."

"We're going to figure this out, Clark," Lois answered gently as she reached over and placed her hands on top of his to stop him from typing momentarily in hope of trying to calm him, or offer him some kind of reassurance. "I can only imagine how worried you are about your father, after he was in a coma for three months…"

"There's more to it than that," Clark responded worryingly. "You haven't been staying with us long. You have no idea of all the things he's been through. He's having nightmares, he's unable to sleep, and there's more and I don't know how to help him."

Lois smiled as she pushed Clark over and took over for him at her cousin's computer, then replied, "You're helping him now by finding out about Thanatos, who just happens to be a person, or at least a mythical being, which seems very strange that this would be what this woman was thinking about when she attacked Mr. Kent."

Clark looked at the screen as he read, "It says that Thanatos is an ancient Greek personification of Death, or the death instinct, especially when expressed in violent aggression. I guess that explains why Tom's wife is so quick to kill and attack anyone who she sees standing in her way of getting her revenge."

"The question is, now that she has it, what's next for her?" Lois asked more rhetorically, not expecting Clark to actually answer as she knew he didn't know any more than she did.

"What are you two doing in here?" one of the sheriff's deputies asked as he suddenly walked into the room, startling the two intruders as they quickly stopped what they were doing and turn around to face the man before them. "A call from another student here came in telling our department that she saw two kids breaking in here tonight and so the sheriff sent me to take a look.

Lois looked at Clark worryingly, then back at the law enforcement officer and answered, "Deputy, I uh… we both… Look, we've come here, after hours because there's trouble in this town. We're only simply trying to gather information so that we can try to get ahead of the situation, that's all."

The deputy motioned for them to walk out ahead of him as he responded, "If that's true, you can speak about all this with Sheriff Adams. Let's go, now."

At the police station…

"Now, I can see why Miss. Lane here would do something like this, seeing as she's new here to Smallville and that she's a reporter, but you Mr. Kent?" Nancy spoke up as she paced back and forth in front of the two teenagers sitting down before her. "Actually, I'm not sure why I'm really all that surprised. You do seem to be in the wrong places at the wrong times quite often. My deputy told me what you told him. You were also at Lex Luthor's earlier tonight. Please, do explain yourselves. What is your interest in this case?"

"We believe that Tom and his wife are a lot more than what they appear to be," Clark replied somberly. "When my father picked him up after the car accident, he immediately felt something was wrong, but brought this stranger home anyway because he needed help. The next day, Tom's wife comes and attacks my father to get him to tell her where her husband is, which he didn't know."

Starting to understand, Nancy took a seat in front of them as she stated, "My God, is Jonathan alright?"

Clark nodded and answered, "He's okay. I interrupted her before she could harm him more, but she disappeared while I was trying to take care of him. All of a sudden, her husband suddenly dies of a heart attack only a few hours later. Something isn't right here and we both believe that this is one of the kinds of cases that are difficult to explain."

"I see," the woman responded, seeming to understand that he was speaking of the kinds of unexplained cases of hers that involves those with the strange abilities, whom she has been forced to ship off to Belle Reve Sanitarium. "You believe that this woman has superhuman abilities of some kind due to whatever the hell she's been exposed to after that accident and that it's possible that Tom Callas' heart attack might not be a simple heart attack. We have reason to believe that there's been foul play between them, but you seem to know more than we do. What were you researching at the school tonight?"

"Only anything that might help us to help you to discover the truth before this woman hurts anyone else," Lois replied honestly. "More trouble is coming and Mrs. Callas, is smack dab in the middle of it."

Sheriff Adams nodded as she answered, "Well, it turns out that you're not wrong, Miss. Lane. The truth is, more people have already been hurt. At least four other people have been found dead ever since Mr. Callas and his wife came into town, their cause of deaths still unknown, but it's definitely strange. Listen to me, I am going to let the two of you go, but from here on out, I want you both to stay out of all this before you get yourselves hurt too. And if I find either if you interfering in our investigation again, I won't decide to drop the charges against you right now for breaking and entering. Have I made myself clear?"

Clark nodded and said assuredly, "Yes, of course. Thank you, Sheriff. And be careful. I can promise you that she won't allow herself to be taken in and who knows what it's going to take to put her down."


	11. Chapter 11

Thanatos

Chapter Eleven

Meanwhile…

Lex was sitting behind his desk when a man wearing in a sharp suit walked in and stood in front of the younger Luthor until Lex finished signing whatever contract he was signing, then without looking up, Lex spoke up first saying, "Jerald Anson, I appreciate you coming here so soon."

The man smiled smugly as he answered, "I told you, you can always count on me to come when you call for my services."

"I expected as much," Lex replied when he finally stopped writing and raised his head to look at the man before him. "I need information. What the sheriff and her men believe is that an old friend of my family's, Tom Callas, came into town and then had a heart attack while he was here in my home while we were sharing stories and having a drink."

"And I'm guessing because you need me, that there's more to this story," Jerald responded as he took a seat in the chair in front of the desk. "What more is there?"

Lex picked up the glass that had fallen from Tom's hands to the floor when the woman who broke in appeared in the doorway earlier and stared at the tiny amount of brandy still in its bottom as he answered, "Theresa Callas, Tom's wife, also arrived earlier and as she did, Tom became very scared and there happens to be a very good reason why he would be. The details don't matter. What does, is that I need you to find this woman and bring her to me, tied up, gagged, blindfolded, however you have to, but under no circumstances can she fall into law enforcement's hands. And be careful, this job will not be as easy as it sounds. This woman is no longer an ordinary woman."

Anson became very intrigued as he asked, "You mean, she's one of these meteor infected freaks? I've been hoping for the opportunity to come into contact with one. I am very much intrigued, Mr. Luthor. When I get this done, you will allow me to observe your scientists when they experiment, to see how and why these green meteor rocks affected her, won't you?"

"If you can get this done without drawing the police to our operations, consider this part of your payment," the younger Luthor replied as he reached out his right hand for a handshake, his employee reciprocating to the gesture.

"You have yourself a deal, Mr. Luthor," Jerald responded as he finally stood again and started to walk away until he stopped again and turned back around to look at his employer. "I do have one more question. Exactly what is it that this woman can do? It's obvious she's dangerous and seeing as she had the ability to kill your friend in a way that appeared he died from a heart attack…"

When he cut himself off, Lex stood as well as he reached over for a clean glass and another bottle of brandy, poured himself a glass, then answered, "The truth is, I'm not really sure what she can do. I mean, she managed to toss me across the room and knock me against the wall without even touching me, which knocked me out cold for however long I was unconscious and when I came to, I saw her holding her husband high above her head, her entire body glowing green as her hand was against his chest, and he was screaming in pain. One thing for you to keep in mind, don't let her touch you if you get close to her."

Jerald Anson nodded and replied, "That sounds like sound advice."

"You do realize that if anything else happens, if Theresa Callas is captured by anyone other than you or she is killed, that you will not be receiving a dime and you will pay for your disloyalty, don't you?" Lex asked coldly. "Because that is exactly what I will see you as, disloyal."

"This woman will be down in your lab gift wrapped and locked away, unable to hurt anyone else again," the man responded smugly.


	12. Chapter 12

Thanatos

Chapter Twelve

"So, we're not actually going to quit our investigation, are we?" Lois asked nervously, sensing Clark's darkened mood as they left the police station in town and headed back to his family's pickup truck, which had been driven back to the station by the deputy's partner after they left the school, as Clark and Lois were both driven into town in the back seat of the police officer's squad car. "Earth to Clark, are you going to talk to me, or am I just talking to hear myself talk?"

"I'm sorry," he replied somberly. "I just want this night to be over, but I have a feeling that it won't be ending any time soon. Of course we're going to continue looking for this woman. We have to. She's only going to kill again."

Lois looked at her friend strangely as she answered, "Okay, doomsayer. Look, I am all for looking into this woman and getting the scoop on this story, but…"

Clark angrily interrupted, "Would you stop talking about this like this is some big story that will get your name plastered on the news?"

"Just chill, would you?" she stated in frustration. "Damn Smallville, I get why Chloe liked you, but I do not understand how she dealt with your sudden mood swings. One minute, your sweet and cutely naïve and the next, you're the incredible hulk, ready to smash everything in sight. I never meant to sound like I was only in this with you for a story to help me get started on my career. I would never do that. I was only going to ask, even if we do manage to track her down, what then? You don't actually expect to do anything yourself, do you?"

"Of… of course not," Clark stuttered in response. And I'm sorry. I really don't mean to be so problematic. You don't deserve that and I have no excuse. All I want is to try to find anything that might help Sheriff Adams and the rest of the police force to find this woman and stop her from hurting anyone else. Chloe would be the first to agree with me."

Lois nodded, then replied, "And as I've already said, I'm on board. So, what now, Banner?"

Clark looked at her mockingly as he asked, "Bruce Banner, really?"

"What, do you not think that a girl reads comic books too?" Lois asked as she saw him looking at her strangely. "Okay, so I don't, or never did, but I do happen to know who the hulk is. My dad liked the old show. When he wasn't busy with being an Army general, he would actually relax a little a long time ago and on rare occasions, we'd watch the show and a few others together."

"That sounds nice," Clark answered and was about to get into the driver's seat of his truck again when he suddenly stopped as he noticed someone watching him and Lois from a distance, then realized who it was. "Uh… listen Lois, I think I'm going to take a walk, to try to clear my head a little. Why don't you take my family's truck and I'll be home in a little while."

She came around to the driver's side as she responded, "Well, if you're going to do that, then I'm going to go take care of a few things myself, that is of course, if you don't mind me taking your truck?"

Clark nodded as he started to walk off, straining his eyes when the woman watching them seemed to disappear into an alleyway, then Lois turned back to ask something more until she discovered he was already gone, having run off in a surprising speed, and she said to herself, "I really wish he would stop running off like that. It's creepy."

Within a few seconds, Clark had run to where he saw the woman standing only a moment ago and suspecting she was hiding, he called out angrily, "I know you're still here! I also know that you must know about me after you attacked my father! Come out and face me!"

"I know more than you might want me to know," Thana replied coolly. "Your father has a lot of secrets."

"Why did you attack him?" Clark asked angrily. "My dad didn't do anything to you. He was only trying to help you."

"He wasn't trying to help me," she answered as she stared at the young man she had seen come to his father's rescue earlier. "He was continuing to help Theresa's husband, despite knowing that he was an evil man. Jonathan knew where Tom was and yet he refused to give him up, so I had to force it from him."

Clark stepped toward her, but stopped himself as he knew it was a bad idea to attack her, so instead he simply continued talking, saying, "You nearly killed him. You would have if I hadn't have come home when I did. You killed others, just as you killed Tom. I know you were wronged, I have an idea what your husband did to you, but…"

The woman angrily interrupted, "I wasn't the one who was wronged, she was and Tom was not my husband. He was hers."

"I don't understand," Clark stated in confusion. "What do you mean she was wronged?"

"I am not Theresa any longer," Thana responded cruelly. "Theresa was weak. I am not. When she was young, Theresa's father used to tell her stories about a very powerful being, a reaper of sorts, whom the Greek called Thanatos. He claimed that this being had the ability to steal the life from any other being, whether it was his or her time to leave this Earth, or not; a child's horror story, or so Theresa thought. Her father believed that Thanatos would one day come for him, but she never believed his stories. Little did she know that Thanatos had already chosen her instead. He chose her so that he could resurrect me through this body. I am here to carry on his work for him until I can find the means to do for him as he has done for me."

At the Kent Farm…

The phone rang as Martha walked into the kitchen to pick it up as she stated, "Hello?"

On the other end of the line, Sheriff Adams replied, " _Good evening, Mrs. Kent. I am sorry to call this late, but I wanted to inform you and your husband that I have just spoken with your son and Miss. Lane after a couple of my men picked them up for breaking and entering in the high school to do research. Don't worry, I'm not pressing charges against them. In fact, they helped out in our investigation. They left here a few minutes ago._ "

"I am grateful, Nancy," Martha answered sincerely. "And I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Clark is used to helping Chloe Sullivan with research after school hours. He's coping, as her death has been hard."

" _I can only imagine,_ " the sheriff responded as Martha took a seat on one of the barstools at their kitchen counter. " _Actually, the real reason for my call is to check up on your husband. Clark has informed me that he was attacked earlier today. How is he doing?_ "

The farmer's wife looked toward the stairs as she answered, "Jonathan is doing alright all things considering. He's upstairs sleeping right now, trying to get some rest. He's still recuperating you know, after being in the hospital and all."

Nancy responded, " _Yes of course. I will not keep you on any longer then so that you can get back to your evening. Call me if you need anything._ "

"I will," she replied as she stood again and prepared to hang up the phone. "And thank you again, Nancy. Good bye."

After hanging up the phone, Martha turned and was about to walk upstairs to check on her husband when all of a sudden, the front door was broken in and two men burst inside as Martha screamed. Jonathan came running down the stairs immediately upon hearing his wife cry out, finding her down on the floor after one of the men had struck her hard enough to knock her down, but not unconscious.

"Jonathan!" she cried as the man she loved swiftly ran in front of her to defend her, but was suddenly forced down to the ground as well when one of the men punched him hard in his stomach, then threw him hard into the coffee table, causing it to break. "No! What are you doing? Leave him alone, please! Jonathan!"

One of the men spoke up stating, "I'm afraid I can't do that."

Jonathan struggled to get his breath back as he was forced to his feet while the two men held him between them, then he spoke up pleading, "Please, I don't know what you want and I don't care, but please… don't hurt my wife."

"It isn't your wife that she wants, Jonathan Kent," the other assailant said cruelly, "She wants you."

"No!" Martha cried out again when one of them shoved her husband back against one of the walls, causing him to fall unconscious as he struck the back of his head, then the other lifted him from off the floor and threw him over his shoulder, as if he weighed nothing, to carry him away. "Jonathan!"

Back in the alley in town…

Clark continued to watch her as he asked, "You say that you're not Theresa any longer, so who are you? And how do you plan to resurrect this, Thanatos, whom you believe has granted you this new life?"

The woman still before him answered, "I am Thana and soon, Thanatos will be reborn as I was. You want to help me, or so you claim, but you can't help me. I don't need to be saved as you have the habit of doing for everyone else. I like who I am. Theresa was beaten until she was dead and so I avenged her by killing Tom Callas. The others were simply means to an end."

"And my father?" Clark asked angrily as before.

"Your father will soon be no more so that Thanatos can live as I live," Thana responded coldly.

Clark replied fearfully, "What do you mean? What have you done?"

She laughed cruelly, then answered, "Jonathan Kent defies the God your real father is at every turn and curses his name, yet he continues to breathe freely. I've seen everything. I wanted to kill him, at first, but then I saw his true purpose, to become a vessel for Thanatos, as Theresa was for me."

"Jonathan is my real father, not Jor-El," Clark responded. "Jor-El is no God and I don't care what you saw when you invaded my dad's mind. If you want to use him to try to bring to life this other false God, I will stop you. I won't let you hurt him again. You won't get near him!"

"I don't have to, Kal-El," Thana retorted as Clark stepped forward and tried to grab a hold of her, only to be thrown backward himself as she used the strength that was almost his in equal. "At least not right now. I have help for that. Jonathan is already mine. You are too late to help him now. You are more than human, that much is clear, but you are not the only one with power on your side, boy. So, I suggest you run home and be with the woman you call your mother. She will need you."

As soon as Thana said this, Clark sped off without a second thought, leaving the power hungry woman behind with a smile on her face as he raced off to try to save the man who would soon become hers, once Jonathan was dead and Thanatos was risen.


	13. Chapter 13

Thanatos

Chapter Thirteen

As soon as Clark made it home and ran inside, the first thing he saw was a large hole in the wall and discovered the shattered coffee table in their living room as he looked around, then he cried out, "Dad? Dad! Mom!"

When she heard their son cry out for them, Martha ran down the stairs as quickly as she could as she responded fearfully, "Clark, they took him! They took your father!"

"Who did?" he asked worryingly. "Who took him?"

"I don't know," she answered as he shook her head. "Two men? Your dad, he… he tried to fight them off, but… Clark, they had some kind of powers too. They were strong, almost like you. Your dad fought to protect me, but before they left, they said that she wanted him, but I don't understand, who is she?"

Clark replied swiftly, "It's Theresa, Tom's wife, or at least she used to be. She's definitely been infected by the meteor rock and now she believes that she's been reborn as this Greek personification of Death; Thana. She talks of Theresa in the past tense. She somehow gave the men who broke in here powers long enough until they get her what she wants."

Martha was still confused as she responded, "This woman tried to kill him earlier. Why would she choose to kidnap him now? What does she want with your father?"

"I saw her just before I ran back here," Clark answered despondently. "Theresa explained a few things to me, probably just to distract me long enough to keep me from coming home earlier, but she said that when she first attacked Dad, she saw something that made her change her mind. I think that it's Dad's defiance against Jor-El that she has become drawn to."

"Jor-El?" his mother asked worryingly. "This woman knows about Jor-El?"

Clark nodded and replied, "I think she knows pretty much everything. She pushed her way deep inside Dad's head. Mom, she's going to try to turn Dad into her equal, another being of Death, whom she called…"

Martha finished for him, "Thanatos. That explains why that was the one word your father saw, but how does she plan on doing this? How does she plan on turning him into this creature of Death like she's become?"

"By trying to do to him what Tom did to her," Clark answered fearfully, noticing the tears that began to fall down his mother's face, though he understood that she needed to hear it. "She's going to kill him, then try to revive him in the same way that was done to her. I think by trying to recreate her own circumstances with the lightning and kryptonite in hope that Dad will become just as she is, that he'll become Thanatos."

"I will find him, Mom," Clark continued, trying to sound assuring as he pulled his mom into his arms and held her tightly when she finally collapsed to the floor, breaking down in tears. "I won't let Theresa hurt Dad again, I promise. I promise."

Downtown at the Morgue…

A middle-aged man wearing glasses, a suit, and a tie, walked inside and up to the young coroner's assistant sitting behind the desk trying to fill out paperwork as he listened to music through his headphones, while the coroner himself was busy finishing up an autopsy on Smallville's latest deceased. When the assistant didn't look up upon the visitor's approach, the man moved around to the side of the desk and tapped the kid heavily upon his shoulder, succeeding in startling him.

The visitor spoke first as he said with not a lot of sincerity, "I'm sorry, but seeing as you didn't see me, I had to get your attention somehow. You understand?"

The younger man glared at him as he replied, "I suppose. Can I help you with something? The morgue is closed for the evening."

"Yes, but if you would be so kind as to fetch your boss, I'd like to speak with him," the newcomer responded even more coldly than before. "I believe that he and the Luthor's have a certain understanding with one another and as I work for the Luthors, he will want to speak with me."

"I see," the kid answered skeptically, then stood up and started to walk toward the door that led into the morgue. "Wait here. It's been a long night and he isn't exactly in the best of moods. Something tells me that seeing you will not help improve it much."

A few minutes later, the young man came back out, followed by the coroner, who looked strangely at the visitor, then spoke up saying, "I believe my assistant told you that we are closed for the night. If you need to speak with me about something, or perhaps someone, I'm afraid you will have to wait until morning, Mr.…?"

The man pulled out his wallet and handed the doctor a business card, as well as a note signed by Lex Luthor in order to confirm his story, then he replied, "You can call me Jerald. As you can see, I'm cleared to examine the body of your heart attack victim that was brought in here over an hour ago. I've also been asked to collect the man's belongings."

"The man died of a heart attack," the examiner stated in confusion. "Exactly what could the Luthors want to see his body for? I was under the impression that Lex witnessed his friend die from the attack himself."

"That is his business I'm afraid," Anson responded coolly as he followed the coroner into the morgue, then waited for him to pull back the sheet that covered the body. "Did you find anything, unusual?"

The man glared at him as he answered, "It's not like I've had a whole lot of time with the body. I've barely begun."

As Anson examined the body for himself, he nodded and replied, "I suppose not. And his personal effects he carried on him? Where are they?"

"They're right here," the examiner's assistant responded as he walked back into the room and then handed Lex's associate a bag containing of Tom Callas' things; a watch, a pack of cigarettes, a jacket, a pair of sunglasses, his shoes and clothes he had on him when he died, a portfolio containing divorce papers, and finally his wallet. "I am much obliged for your help, gentlemen. Have a wonderful evening."

"Yeah, you too," the doctor answered coldly as he watched the stranger walk off without another word. "I really wish the Luthors would just drop dead themselves. Jerk."

The young man looked over at his boss as he asked in confusion, "Exactly what did the Luthor's note say? Why do you do whatever he and Lionel Luthor ask of you?"

The older man showed his friend the piece of paper with Lex's signature on it, then replied, "It's a reminder that our not so legal side business will be in jeopardy if we don't give them whatever they ask for. Come on, get back to filling out the rest of those papers. When you're done, I'm going to need you to head over to the pawn shop again. Let our partner know that the gold pocket watch we promised we'd deliver to him is going to cost him twice its value if he doesn't keep up his end of our bargain."


	14. Chapter 14

Thanatos

Chapter Fourteen

Jonathan slowly awakened and his first awareness was the pain in his body he was feeling, reminding him quickly of the attack against him and his wife in their home, however long ago it was that it had happened. Despite his pain, he began to struggle to free himself from his bindings, seeing that his wrists, legs, and chest were all bound to a metal beam behind him that kept him standing upright, a beam that was part of what was left of the old railroad bridge that once ran through Smallville a long time ago, an area that was long deserted and far from where anyone would think to look for them.

Not far away, Jonathan could see the two men who had kidnapped him, arguing between each other while they waited for the woman who enlisted their help to take him to return. He didn't know how long of a wait it was for them, but it wasn't long after he awoke that the same woman who had attacked him earlier that morning walked down beneath the bridge, turned her head to look at him and gently caressed his cheek with a smile on her face as she walked by him, Jonathan quickly pulling away from her touch the best that he could, then she finally walked over to the two men, who simply stared at her in yearning for her arrival.

"You're back," one of the men said anxiously as she walked up to them, then caressed his cheek as she did Jonathan's, though with more passion behind it. "Tom and I did as you asked of us."

"Yes, we've brought you Jonathan Kent as you ordered," Tom swiftly added as he tried to push his friend aside in order to get the beautiful woman's attention as well, succeeding as she released her hold over Kyle and pulled Tom in for a deep kiss, then roughly began to kiss his neck and upper chest as she held him against her body tightly. "Do with me… with me… ah… as you will. I… ah… ah… Aagh, Aagh, Aaaagh!"

Tom suddenly began screaming in agony as the power Theresa had given him was slowly being ripped from his body, as was his life force while she continued to hold him within her grasp, her hand firmly over his chest as she did to this Tom like she had done to Theresa's husband. Jonathan was forced to watch the man suffer as he cried out, still struggling against his bindings, but being unable to break free, while Kyle slowly backed away in fear. Then, finally the bright green glow that enveloped them as she used her gifts disappeared the moment she released the man she was kissing moments ago, allowing his lifeless body fall to the ground before them.

As she turned to Kyle and started walking slowly toward him, knowing that she was about to do the same to him as she had just finished doing to his friend, Kyle quickly raised his hands out before him as he pleaded, "Please, Thana, I beg of you! Spare my life! I only wish to please you, to do for you all that you require of me. I swear, I will never turn against you and that I will forever be yours as long as you want me to be. I will do anything for you! Please!"

She stopped and stared at him as if she was looking for some sign of deceit, then she began to stroke her fingers through his shaggy, sandy colored hair as she finally spoke again saying softly, "Very well, you may yet be of use to me. After all, you did bring me the man I asked for. You've done well, Kyle."

"Thank you," he answered as she smiled, then continued to stare at her as if in a trance while she stepped away and started walking again toward Jonathan, who straightened his body as tall as he could despite his aches from the beating, in order to show his defiance against her, the same defiance she sensed in him from the moment that their paths crossed that she found so appealing.

"What do want with me?" Jonathan asked in frustration. "To finish what you began earlier? Why go through all this trouble to kidnap me from my home, just to kill me?"

Theresa smiled again as she stood before him close enough for her to touch her hand to his chest, then she responded, "Do not worry, Jonathan Kent. I do not wish to kill you just yet. I need you alive long enough for me to gather all I need for Thanatos' arrival."

Jonathan looked at her in confusion and replied, "I don't understand. What does this man's arrival have to do with me? I am no more than a simple farmer, who leads a quiet life with my wife and my son."

"Thanatos is no man, but Death himself, as powerful as any god, and I am his goddess, Thana," she answered angrily. "You are nothing as you say, but yet I sense something different in you that I have not ever sensed in anyone else. I know of the young man you claim is your son, though he is not yours, but that of Jor-El's."

"So, you do know everything," he responded coldly. "Then, you also know that you won't succeed whatever your twisted plans are. It doesn't matter what happens to me. My life isn't important, but my son, will stop you. If you let him, he can help…"

All of a sudden, Theresa wrapped her hand tightly around his throat and squeezed making it difficult for him to breathe as she interrupted cruelly, "I do not need your help! I do not want your help, only your body so that Thanatos can be reborn as I was."

When she finally released him and allowed him to get his breath back, Jonathan then lifted is head again to look at her as he suddenly understood his reason for being there and said fearfully, "You plan to do to me as Tom did to you, or for you."

Intrigued that the man before her was smarter than he first believed him to be, Theresa replied, "Please, continue. I am impressed, or is it that my probing into your mind allowed you to see a little of what I have in store for you?"

"I only saw his name," he answered calmly. "Thanatos. You believe you have become this form of Death after your husband killed you and that you can do the same to me in order to bring about this second personification, but Theresa, you don't understand. What has happened to you isn't…"

"I am not Theresa any longer!" she responded angrily as she roughly struck him hard across his face. "I am Thana! Theresa is dead, as you will be soon so that Thanatos can live."

Jonathan looked at her pleadingly as he replied, "But you don't understand. What has happened to you, was because of the meteor rocks buried in the ground where Tom buried your body. These rocks have special elements, elements that bring about strange powers and somehow, that power revived you and turned you into this. You are not this Thana whom you believe you are and by trying to recreate the same circumstances of your death to do the same to me… It won't work. Kryptonite effects everyone exposed to it differently."

Theresa turned to Kyle and stated, "I need you to go to the place of Theresa's death and bring me back as much of the green stone buried in her grave as you can carry. Then, meet me back here as soon as you can. My plan will move forward as planned. Do you understand, Kyle?"

"Of course I do, Goddess," the young man answered smugly and then walked off to do as he was ordered.

"Thank you, Jonathan Kent, for telling me of the element I need to destroy what is left of you, in order to resurrect Thanatos, my God and soon to be my Love," she said again after her servant left them alone again. "There are only a few other elements I need in order for me to succeed. The question is, how to make this work?"

Jonathan struggled within her grasp as she once again pulled herself close to him and began to kiss his neck and upper chest as she had done earlier before killing the other man with her, while he responded, "Whatever you do won't work. Even if you do succeed in killing me and then in bringing me back to life, I will never be this, Thanatos you believe exists. I hardly know anything of him, only you do. I will only become one more person here in Smallville having been exposed to and infected by the meteor rocks. I will never love you."

Theresa raised her head in order to look directly into his eyes as she wrapped her arms around his head to hold him firmly so that he could not turn away, then she replied cruelly, "You will, and you, nor your son will be able to stop me, Jonathan."

She leaned in and kissed him passionately on his lips as she raised one of her hands against his chest and suddenly emitted her power, throwing her head back as she let out a moan of intoxicating ecstasy as his life force once again began to invigorate her strength, eliciting a cry of agony from his lips.

Theresa continued until she could feel him only moments from death and suddenly released her hold on him, allowing his head to drop to his chest. She gently ran her fingers along his cheek, then leaned in for a final kiss before leaving him be until it was time to finish destroying all that was left of him for good.


	15. Chapter 15

Thanatos

Chapter Fifteen

When Lois finally arrived back at the Kent's, she walked inside the farmhouse without knocking and after doing so, she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the large hole in one of the walls, then noticed the rest of the broken furniture and things that had crashed to the floor in the attack.

It was then that she finally saw Clark as he walked into the kitchen to throw away some smaller pieces of the wooden table from the living room and quickly asked, "Clark, what on earth happened here? Are you, are your parents okay? How did you…?"

In hope to make her forget that he had somehow gotten back home before she did, as she hadn't left him alone that long ago, Clark cut her off as he replied angrily, "My parents were attacked. My dad was taken."

"Oh God Clark, I am so sorry," she quickly responded as she stepped forward and put her hands gently on his shoulders in an attempt to comfort him. "I don't understand. Who would do this? Was it… was it that woman? Tom's wife, whatever her name is?"

"Theresa and yes, we believe so," he answered in frustration as he walked back into the living room to continue to pick up the pieces alongside his mother, who was trying to pick things up as well, though much more slowly as she was still struggling to fight against the fear of losing the man she loved.

Lois knelt down on the floor beside the woman who had so graciously taken her in as she carefully pulled her into her arms, then spoke again sincerely, "Mrs. Kent, I'm so so… I am sure that he's going to be alright. I mean, I don't know either of you all that well yet, but I have a feeling that you three are all too tough to let some power crazed woman defeat you."

Martha patted her arm gently as she replied, "Thank you, Lois."

"We've called Sheriff Adams to let her know about Dad being taken, but there is nothing that I can think of that will help any of us to find where Theresa's taken him," Clark said, having lied about calling and talking to the sheriff, not wanting to draw any attention to himself if he mentioned that he planned to go after this woman alone, in order to keep Lois from becoming suspicious. "She could be anywhere."

"I'm sure there's a way to find out where she is, Clark," she responded as she helped his mom to stand again, then led her over to the couch where they both sat down. "I mean, the sheriff did mention that this woman has killed at least four other people, right? Maybe that's how we're going to have to find her, by following the bodies."

Clark looked at the new woman in their home as it donned on him what she meant, then he smiled as he answered, "Lois, you're a genius. I need to go back to talk with Sheriff Adams to see if I can find out who the others are that Theresa killed, to see if I can figure out where they might have been killed."

Lois quickly stood up as she objected, "Wait a minute, I thought we were going to do this together, remember? Just because this woman's spinning out of control and now has your father, doesn't mean that we can't…"

"Lois, this isn't about that anymore," Clark suddenly interrupted. "I know that you want to help and that me telling you it's dangerous is ridiculous because you would still charge ahead anyway, but right now, I need you to stay here with my mom. I need you to keep assuring her that everything's going to be fine. I have to go. If there's any information that I can possibly find that the sheriff can't, then she'll need someone to inform her and her men."

"And what makes you think that you can find something that they can't?" Lois asked again stubbornly. "No offense, but you're a farmer's son and you're a little bit dense when it comes to investigating."

Clark stood at the door and then replied, "Maybe so, but I helped Chloe find out the truth behind all the mysterious happenstances that go on here, a lot more than even she knew. Thanks again, Lois."

With that, Clark left both his mom and the confused and frustrated reporter behind as he ran to his father's truck, then got in and drove off toward town. What he didn't know was that someone was sitting inside his own car parked alongside the Kent's barn so that no one would see him should they drive in or out as the teenager just had.

The man pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, then waited for someone to pick up and when he did, he stated coolly, "Lex, I just wanted to let you know that I've found myself a possible lead. I'm sitting outside of the Kent Farm right now. Their kid just took off in their pickup."

" _Why?_ " the younger Luthor asked on the other end of the line. " _What makes you think that the Kents will be able to help you find this woman?_ "

"After I spoke with your coroner friend, I went through Tom's things in order to try to get a feel for where his wife might have gone after she killed him," Anson responded. "His shoes were caked with dirt and mud from when he visited here at the farm and after overhearing the sheriff on the phone that this woman had come here and attacked Jonathan Kent, probably for trying to help her murderous husband… Well, let's just say it's a hunch that she might just come back here to try to finish the job. She is after all, dropping bodies right and left. She appears to have a thirst for vengeance. Since she couldn't finish the job earlier, she may try again."

Lex spoke again saying, " _You should follow after Clark, the kid who just left. He has a knack for being in the right place at the right time whenever the crazy things go down. Not to mention the fact that he's an upcoming reporter, always looking for the truth behind the story. He doesn't give up easily. If he's going somewhere, it might be somewhere that will lead you to finding Theresa Callas. Just, whatever happens, I want you to be sure not to get Clark hurt in the process. He's my friend. I also don't want him to discover you capturing the woman, least of all that you're working for me if he does. Is that understood?_ "

Jerald smiled as he started his car and started after the young man while he answered, "I understand, Mr. Luthor. And thanks for the tip. We'll be in touch soon. Hopefully by then, Mrs. Callas will be in my custody."


	16. Chapter 16

Thanatos

Chapter Sixteen

Clark decided the place to start his search for his father and Thana was downtown inside the coroner's office so that he could try to find out who the kryptonite infected woman's victims were, in hope that who they were might give him a clue as to her whereabouts. He was only a few miles outside of town when he noticed a small car following him. Clark took a few turns down off roads just to be sure and even though the man driving remained several car lengths back, Clark could tell that he was right to be cautious, so he simply continued into town as he had planned. When he pulled up outside of the morgue, Clark was surprised to discover the lights still on inside and a single car parked outside, indicating that the doctor who worked there, and possibly his assistant, was still working even though it was nearly four o'clock in the morning.

He quietly got out of his truck while keeping eyes on his pursuer who had parked a few feet down the street, then crept inside the building until he came to stand outside of the lab where the autopsies took place, and tuned into his super hearing in order to overhear the conversation taking place between the two men, whom he could see through the doors' windows, were standing over a body that appeared to have just been brought in, as the corpse was still inside a body bag. It didn't take long for Clark to discover that these men were not exactly on the up and up, as the doctor was reading off a list of the items it was clear that they had stolen from the dead, which the assistant was to bring down to a pawn shop once they were finally finished for the night.

These men were crooked, which allowed Clark to feel that what he decided to do next was not necessarily in the wrong, though the sheriff and even his father might disagree. He quietly snuck back outside to avoid being seen or heard by the two men inside or the man following him, looked around him to make sure that there was no one else in sight to see what he was about to do, then from against the wall around the side of the building, Clark focused hard on the one parked car in front of him as he used his heat vision to set it on fire in hope of drawing the doctor and his assistant out so that he'd be able to sneak in long enough to go through the files they had on Theresa's victims. His plan worked perfectly as the fire set, causing the vehicle to blow and both the examiner and his young assistant to run outside, only to stand back with their hands on their heads in shock at the sight before them.

"What do we do, Doc?" the younger man asked worryingly, neither of them noticing as Clark slipped inside. "If we call the cops…"

"We're not going to call the cops," the older man responded angrily as he continued to stare ahead of him at what was now nothing more than a bonfire. "But it looks like we're going to have to get that extra couple of grand for the watch after all. Otherwise, we're going to be in a different kind of trouble."

Luckily, Clark had his speed to be able to get inside faster than he would if he were human. It made breaking and entering much easier. Clark couldn't help, but chuckle at the fact that this was the second time he was breaking in someplace that night. All he had to do was make sure he didn't get caught this time. He wasn't too worried, as he knew that the only men who could catch him wouldn't call the sheriff or the rest of the town's law enforcement on him if they wanted to keep themselves out of prison.

Clark looked around quickly, then immediately went to the filing cabinet to search the files for any information he could find. He discovered that five files had been added since Tom and Theresa Callas arrived in Smallville the night before, and one more he found lying out on the table closest to the body within the bag that covered it. When he read the name, Clark pulled back the opening and stared at the young man, discovering him to be one of his school's biggest jocks since Whitney Fordman had left for the Marines years ago; Tom King. And he knew that if Tom had fallen prey to this woman, then his closest friend, Kyle must have too, as one of them was rarely seen without the other. Though, as Kyle wasn't among the dead, Clark realized that he and Tom may have been the men Theresa put under her spell and used to kidnap his father.

When he finished his search, Clark sped out to the alley around the side of the building just as the doctor and assistant walked back inside, and discovered that several onlookers had now gathered around to watch the fire and take pictures on their phones. Clark saw that the man who had followed him here was among them. When he was certain that no one was watching him, least of all the stranger, Clark used his power of speed once again to disappear.

He made his way to the area where Tom King's body had been found, having read the whereabouts from his file at the coroner's office, which was just off the main road into Smallville, not far from where Tom Callas had been in his accident. Meanwhile, the rain, thunder, and lightning above him continued to worsen as Clark stared off into the skies while trying to put all of the pieces together. If Kyle was indeed under Theresa's control and he was the one who had left his friend's body, then it made sense that he had left it where Clark stood because Theresa had enlisted him to collect pieces of the meteor rock for her plan to transform his father into Thanatos. Clark quickly made his way down to where Theresa had been buried and didn't feel sick as he had before, confirming his fear that most of the rock had been taken.

He was close, Clark knew it, so he thought hard and fast about where it was Theresa and Kyle could possibly be hiding, knowing that his father didn't have much time left. Finally, he remembered that there was a smaller dirt road not too far down, which was a bit more than two miles from where the remnants of the old railroad bridge stood. Clark didn't know for certain, but it was the perfect place for them to accomplish Theresa's goal, so he ran there as fast as he could.

As he arrived, he came upon them just in time to see Kyle standing on top of the bridge over the creek running beneath as he loomed over his father, who was laid out and bound tightly across the metal beams, conscious or unconscious, Clark couldn't tell. What he could see was the high school football star holding a large chunk of the meteor rock within his hands as he was about to steal his father's life away as Tom Callas had stolen Theresa's life. Even though the rock was mostly kryptonite, Clark rushed Kyle without hesitation, knocking the rock from his hands as he tackled him down to the planks beneath them, then both struggled for control until they suddenly fell over the side of the bridge as Clark grabbed hold of metal bar sticking out above them with one hand, holding onto Kyle with the other to keep him from falling.

Clark looked down at his schoolmate as he cried out, "Kyle, hold on! Stop flailing. If you want me to lift back up over the top, I need you to let go of the meteor rock, then grab hold of me with both hands. Please!"

Kyle didn't listen as he stared down at the ground beneath him and replied, "I can't do that, Clark. Thana needs me to kill Jonathan Kent with this green rock. It's what gave my goddess her power and what will give Thanatos his."

"You don't have to listen to her," Clark said again, but with more force as he could feel Kyle slipping from his grip. "She isn't what she says she is. She's using you and if you don't grab onto me right now, you're going to die! Fight her, Kyle!"

"No," the student answered calmly and without fear as Clark's grasp faltered and Kyle fell to his death on the ground below without so much as a scream.

Clark cried out for him and as soon as he awoke from his moment of shock, he climbed back up to the top of the bridge and looked toward where he had seen his dad bound, but when he did he saw Theresa grinning cruelly as she was kneeling over him where Kyle had been standing before. She held an even larger piece of the green stone within her hands while she carefully laid smaller pieces across Jonathan's chest, all without taking her eyes away from the young man who was more than human.

She spoke first saying coolly, "It's amazing how this beautiful stone has the power to resurrect both me and my Love, isn't it… Kal-El?"

Clark slowly raised himself from the bridge as he stood up straight and responded pleadingly, "Please Theresa, let my father go. Whatever you think you can…"

"I am not Theresa!" she replied angrily as she stood. "Theresa is dead. She was weak, allowing me to become reborn. Jonathan Kent is weak just like she was, which makes his body the perfect vessel for Thanatos."

"You're wrong, my dad is far stronger than anyone I know," Clark answered in defiance. "The only thing you will succeed in doing is kill him. And even if you can revive him, he won't be this reaper you claim Thanatos to be. He'll only be one more person infected and consumed by the meteor rock."

She chuckled as she looked down at the man at her feet, then responded, "That's exactly what he said to me. I didn't believe him, just as I do not believe you. Did you know Kal-El, that the man you call Father is already as good as dead? His heart is weak. There is only so much time that he has left before the toll of the agony your real father, Jor-El, has inflicted upon his body destroys him once and for all. I have seen it, deep inside his mind. He has seen it. Jonathan knows that he is dying. He dreams of his torment at the hands of Jor-El, he dreams of your suffering and that of his wife's, and he dreams of death every time he closes his eyes, all because you had to come into their lives. But I can save him. I can help him live, forever."

What she was saying struck a nerve and he couldn't help, but feel that she was right, but Clark fought against the guilt that rose heavily within him as he slowly moved closer and replied gravely, "He won't be Jonathan Kent any longer if I allow you to do this. I won't let you do that to him. I won't let you kill him. Jonathan is my father and I am tired of people trying to tell me he's not! You will not hurt him again!"

"You don't have a choice!" she shouted as she suddenly raised one hand high into the air to draw the lightning in the skies to her and lowered her other hand against his dad's chest, then began to discharge her power from her body into his, a bright green glow once again surrounding them both.

"No!" Clark cried out when without even thinking he ran full speed directly at the woman who called herself Thana and thrust all of his strength against her body, the force knocking her back through the air, until she suddenly fell from the sky to her death down into the shallow creek below as Kyle had, her powers no longer protecting her as she believed they always would. "Dad!"

He didn't have time to think about what he had just done as he saw that the lightning was still striking all around them, growing closer and closer, so he swiftly grabbed the meteor rocks from off of his dad's chest and tossed them away despite the sickness it caused him, then thrust his own body over his father's just in time as a burst struck down across his back, Clark taking the full force of the surge upon himself until it all finally dispersed completely. When the danger passed and Clark was able to move again as the pain radiating through him began to fade, he slowly and gently rose from off of his father and fearfully looked him over feeling the fever that radiated off of him and seeing the pain etched across his face, then he laid his head upon his chest in hope of hearing a heartbeat.

Jonathan was barely conscious as he weakly ran his hand along his son's back and struggled to speak saying raspingly, "It's… alri… right, son. I'm… okay."

Clark lifted his head and looked down upon him sadly as he stated with relief, "Dad, thank God! I thought… I thought for sure I was going to lose you this time."

"Not yet," his father answered weakly as Clark carefully helped him up, though he nearly collapsed back down to the ground as he slowly lost consciousness once again until Clark pulled him into his arms and carried him home where he'd be safe and able to rest peacefully while he and his mother took care of him.

Midafternoon the next day at the Luthor mansion…

"You failed me, Anson, despite your assurances that I could count on you," Lex said coldly as he looked up at the man standing before him while he remained sitting upon his couch near the fireplace in his study. "I warned you what would happen should you do so."

Jerald nervously responded, "Please, Lex. I did all I could. The Kent kid gave me the slip, then Theresa Callas' body was brought to the morgue earlier this morning. Your friend said the she mysteriously fell upon the rocks within the creek beneath a railroad bridge."

Lex stared into the fire as he replied, "Yes, mysteriously is the key word, but none of that matters right now. You failed to bring her to me alive as promised."

"Maybe so, but surely her body can still be of use to you," Anson answered coldly. "Just because she's dead, doesn't mean that the powers she had somehow become infused with have disappeared. I will collect her body and have it brought into your lab for the autopsy and its examination."

"Maybe I am acting a little hasty, but then again, maybe not," Lex said when all of a sudden his former associate was struck over his head from behind, then was lifted and dragged away by another associate who also worked for the young Luthor. "Be sure that Jerald is back inside his prison cell where he belongs before he wakes up again."

Someone else who entered with the other nodded and responded, "Don't worry, he'll be back where he can't disappoint you again and where he won't be able to tell anyone anything about our… business."

Lex smiled as he replied, "I always can count on you. Let me know once you get started on Mrs. Callas' autopsy. I'd like to observe this one myself."

At the Kent Farm…

When Clark had made it back home with his father in his arms, he immediately carried him to his and his mother's room, then both he and Martha remained at his bedside over the next several hours so long as he remained unconscious, doing all they could for him to help him fight against the raging fever that burned within him. Lois also remained close, to get for them anything they needed, even though she didn't understand why they didn't just take him to the hospital. Clark simply stated that it was better for him to remain close to those that loved him.

After Lois finally went to go lie down when noon came around, Clark decided it was the best time for him to talk about what Theresa had said to him about his father's dreams before she died, and when he finished, Martha took her husband's hand within her own and held it gently against her cheek as she looked at their son and said quietly, "I knew it was bad, but… Surely there is something we can do to help him, at least to be able to sleep without being so afraid."

"It's not like he can see a psychiatrist about his nightmares," Clark answered in an attempt to be funny, though it didn't actually come across that way. "I'm so sorry, Mom. This is all my fault. If I hadn't have felt sorry for myself and put on the damn ring, none of this would have ever happened and now Dad might die… because of me."

"You're wrong Clark," Jonathan weakly responded suddenly, having awoken sometime within the middle of their conversation, startling both his wife and son, though they were incredibly relieved to see him awake again and seeming to be getting better. "I told you, I made my choice and I would make it again in a second if it meant protecting you and your mother. It's my job to look after you."

"Yes, but you shouldn't have to fight against a God from another world along with Lionel and others like him," Clark replied despondently as he took his father's other hand. "Not if it will one day cost you your life."

Jonathan struggled to sit up with their help and then looked at their son as he answered sincerely, "No matter the circumstances, a father is always willing to give his life for those he loves, as would his mother, as you would do for either of us, though it better not ever come to that. I may be struggling with the nightmares all we have been through have caused, but I made peace with my choices the moment I made them. I am just sorry that I didn't share what I was going through with either of you. I didn't intend to worry you. I'll be alright in time."

Martha smiled as she leaned in to kiss her husband and then responded, "At least maybe you'll be able to heal, now that you're able to speak with us about what is worrying you. Please just let us in, Jonathan."

"I promise, hon," he replied as he looked back at Clark and smiled. "I don't know what happened up on that bridge between you and Theresa, but I want you to know how proud of you I am. Not just for what's happened recently, but for the man I've seen you've become. I love you, and I love you, Martha."

"I love you too, Dad," Clark answered as he leaned down and wrapped his arms around the man who was his greatest hero, despite being just a man with no powers of his own.

It was several days before Jonathan was on his feet again. Clark, Martha, and even Lois picked up the slack while he recuperated. Between the extra work around the farm, Clark and Lois were finally able to get the truth behind Chloe's disappearance and found her alive and well. Troubles came and went, as did times for celebration. What was important was that through it all, the Kents remained a family, fighting for what was right against what was wrong.

The End


	17. Thank You

Thank you to all of those who have read and have written reviews for my stories! They are much appreciated. I'm honored to have you all for fans and I hope to hear from you all again in the future, should you choose to read and enjoy more of my work. Best of wishes to you all!

Sincerely,

Genevieve Kelly


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